Citing a Chapter from an Edited Book in Oxford Referencing

When academics contribute a single chapter to a larger volume, you may find yourself needing to cite just part of a book. And while this is like citing a full book, it does differ in a few ways. Let’s look, then, at how to cite a chapter from an edited book with Oxford referencing.

In-Text Citations for a Chapter from an Edited Book

All versions of Oxford referencing use a footnote and bibliography system. As such, we indicate citations with superscript numbers in the main text:

Citations usually appear after final punctuation in a sentence.¹

In the accompanying footnote, you then need to give the following information for the chapter of the book you are citing:

^n. Chapter Author’s Initial(s) and Surname, “Chapter Title,” in Editor’s Initial(s) and Surname (ed.), Book Title, place of publication, publisher, year, page number(s).

In practice, then, a footnote citation for a chapter from an edited book would look something like this:

^1. M. L. Rosenzweig, “Do Animals Choose Habitats?,” in M. Berkoff and D. Jamieson (eds.), Readings in Animal Cognition, Cambridge, Bradford Books, 1999, p. 189.

The page numbers here should indicate the specific section you’re citing. You will then give the complete page range for the chapter in your bibliography.

For repeat references to a single chapter from a book, meanwhile, you can use a shorter citation format. This usually involves either:

• Giving just the author’s surname and a new page number.
• Using the Latin abbreviations “ibid.,” “op. cit.,” and “loc. cit.”

Check your style guide for more information on which approach to use.

Chapters from Edited Books in an Oxford Bibliography

In your bibliography, you should list all cited sources alphabetically by author surname with full publication information.

For a chapter from an edited book, this includes:

Author Surname, Initial(s)., “Chapter Title,” in Editor’s Initial(s) and Surname (ed.), Book Title, place of publication, publisher, year, complete page range.

As you can see, this is similar to the first footnote citation format. The key differences in the bibliography are that you give:

• The author’s surname first, followed by initials
• The page range for the entire chapter, not a pinpoint citation

In practice, then, we would list the chapter cited above as follows:

Rosenzweig, M. L., “Do Animals Choose Habitats?,” in M. Berkoff and D. Jamieson (eds.), Readings in Animal Cognition, Cambridge, Bradford Books, 1999, pp. 185–199.

A Note on Oxford Referencing

This guide sets out the basics of how to cite a chapter from an edited book using Oxford referencing. However, this system can differ between institutions. As such, you should always check your style guide for advice on how to present references in written work for your course.

If you don’t have a style guide available or it doesn’t cover a certain issue, just aim for clarity and consistency. And if you need anyone to check the referencing in a document, we’re happy to help.